An End to Reason, An End to Sorrows
by Jago Pulastra
Summary: From the ashes of the Sol System, the Navy rises again to challenge the might of those that left them to die. Their hunger for battle is palpable. Their thirst for vengeance is unquenchable. Their Vengeance begins.


**Author's Foreword:**

Hello, one and all!

Colony Wars was, without a doubt, one of my favorite video game series when I was growing up. It was an original Sci-Fi epic with an incredibly well-made story, and I can't even recall the number of times I played through just to get every single ending.

This piece came to me after downloading an emulator in order to replay Colony Wars: Vengeance, my favorite out of the trilogy. Hence, this fanfic will follow that game, though not the exact story. I will be using original characters and events, but staying true to the game's overall plotline and flow.

As always, questions, comments, and (constructive) criticism are welcome.

Enjoy!

* * *

_Our ancestors on Earth had reached out across the Universe._

_Civilizing._

_Enriching._

_Jealous terrorists, the League of Free Worlds spread vile propaganda, sending Death Squads to crush and slaughter us._

_Sealing the Warp Hole, they fled like cowards, leaving us to die._

_Nine Planets._

_One Sun._

_Hunger. Poverty. Decay._

_We turned on each other._

_This is Sol, and We are its prisoners._

_The urge to survive is strong. We will not give in. We will not be beaten._

_One day, our chains will be broken._

_One day, we will taste freedom again._

_One day, we will have our revenge._

_**- The Word of Kron**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

The voices cried his name as if he were an angel descending from the Heavens. Thousands had gathered to hear him speak on humanity's ancestral home, begging for just a glimpse of the man. When he finally stepped into the light on the podium, the cheers reached their peak, swelling into a fervor that refused the die down. People tried to clamber onto the stage to reach him, only to be shoved back into the masses by security, hands reaching towards him, the screams turning into a chant.

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

He raised his arms and lowered them, demanding silence from his followers. With a hush, the circular theater became silenced, all eyes on their leader.

He was a tall man, but well-built, neither lanky nor stocky. Dressed in a neatly-pressed uniform, he looked like the epitome of order, lawfulness, and discipline. His dirty blonde hair was cropped close to his skull, and his eyes had an icy sheen about them, but his _voice_ ... He could instill the passionate fires of pride and hatred in any who heard him speak.

" My people of Sol!" he began, roaring to be heard clearly throughout the stadium, regardless of the vocal amplifiers that were already assisting him, " I thank you for coming here today, to this, our _home_."

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

" Indeed, this _is_ our home! Humanity's birthplace! A planet that was once the gem of the known universe!"

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

" Now that gem has faded ..."

The intensity in his voice faded, becoming more somber, yet still fierce, driving each word home as if a hammer striking the nail.

" Our garden has withered. Our water does not quench. Our air does not refresh. We live in a wasteland, clawing at each other like rabid dogs, and for what? For meager scraps that have all but been consumed thrice over."

At this, the crowd fell silent. All of them knew exactly what he was talking about. Sol, as an entire Star System, was dying. For thousands of years, humans had mined and extracted every last scrap of resources from Earth and its fellow planets. To make up for this, they had colonized beyond Sol, spreading civilization to hundreds of worlds beyond the Rim. The new colonies were set up and maintained by the Earth Empire, with the colonists shipping back materials and resources to sustain Earth.

It was their civic duty, after all, to insure that humanity's home did not simply fade away. They should've been _proud_ to assist in aiding Earth, to further spread the glory of the Empire. Instead, they betrayed their fellow humans. Instead of cargo freighters laden with goods, warships came to the homes of the Empire.

Calling themselves the "League of Free Worlds", the terrorists battled the Colonial Navy across entire Systems, constantly pushing them back towards Sol, 'liberating' worlds in the process. It was preposterous, to think that a group of fringe spacers could possibly stand against the sheer might of the Navy, and yet, they did. Sol, however, was impregnable: a bastion of Imperial might. Rather than face it head-on in honorable battle, the League did the unthinkable: the closed off the Warp Hole that connected Sol to the rest of the Universe.

With the Warp Hole collapsed, there were no more resources. No more food. No more fuel. Billions were dying of famine and disease. The Empire splintered into warring Tribes, fighting for what little scraps there was left.

The Warp Hole closed 49 years ago. 49 years of nothing but constant war, of slavers and pirates, of the unspeakable horrors of total and utter anarchy.

That is, until He came.

" We have suffered in this Living Hell for far too long," Kron declared, " We were left here to waste away. To die. I say no more!"

To accent his statement, he pounded his first upon the podium. The somber lull that the masses had slipped into was immediately cast aside, revolutionary fire gripping them again as they cheered louder than before.

" We will take back that which was rightfully ours!"

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

" We will cast off the shackles and chains of League oppression!"

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

" We will break down the walls of this prison and reclaim our place among the stars!"

" Kron! Kron! Kron!"

" My people! Join me! Join your Leader, and we shall show the League what it means to hunger!"

" _Kron!_"

" To thirst!"

" _Kron!_"

" To suffer!"

" _Kron!_"

The fury filled the entire complex, people on their feet, jumping, cheering wildly. This was it, they all told themselves, this was the beginning of a new era. The resurrection of Earth.

" Join me and rise up!" he asked of them, using his talents as an orator to make it appear as if he were addressing each of the thousands of people individually, speaking to their very hearts, hearts that beat as one with pride in Earth, pride in their heritage, and hatred of the evil League.

" Join me," Kron proclaimed, his smile turning wicked, projected on the jumbo viewscreens around the stadium, " And we will have our _vengeance_."

The masses went absolutely wild. Outside the building, pistols and rifles were being fired to the sky in festivity. From the moons of Jupiter to the space stations above Neptune, to the terra-formed surface of Venus and out past the rings of Saturn, people tuning into the speech from communication links and viewscreens were chanting along with their brothers and sisters on Earth. The sailors, marines, and pilots of the Colonial Navy engorged themselves on their Commander-in-Chief's words, knowing that soon they would be able to focus their aggression on the destroyers and fighters of The League rather than on one another.

Slowly, Kron began to step down amongst the applause and screams, his people cheering him more and more, much to his delight. Soon, Sol would be united once more. Thousands upon thousands of years of history would be restored, and the first Colony War, as it had been named, would be written off as a minor insurgency against the Empire.

Unity. Final Unity. Then ...

Then they could crush the League.

The undisputed leader of Sol began his slow exit of the giant theater, taking time to shake the hands of his supporters, to talk briefly with his supervisors at each of his shoulders, and to enjoy the noise filling the stadium, the crowd shouting its defiance into the night.

" _KRON! KRON! KRON! KRON!_"


End file.
